I have to admit, I am getting a little tired of reading about menopause.

 

Not because I don’t think it is important. It absolutely is. For generations, women were given far too little information about what was happening to their bodies, and the fact that we are finally talking openly about perimenopause and menopause is a very good thing.

But lately, I feel as though we are absolutely flooded with it.

Everywhere I look there is another article, podcast, supplement, buzz word, instagram post, symptom checklist or piece of advice about how to navigate this particular stage of a woman’s life.

And it got me thinking.

What about all the other seasons of a woman’s existence?

Last year, when I appeared on Jody Vassallo’s podcast, she asked me a question that completely stumped me:

“What season of life are you in?”

I honestly didn’t know how to answer authentically.

No one had ever really asked me that before and I’m not sure I had ever thought to ask it of myself.

But it stayed with me.

Because what a beautiful thing to ask ourselves, not just once, but throughout our entire lives:

What season am I in right now?

Not how old am I?
Not what should I have achieved by now?
Not what stage does society tell me I’m in?

But what is actually happening within me, and within my life, at this moment?

Perhaps I’m in a season of growth and possibility. Perhaps I’m building something, caring for others, falling in love, learning, creating or stepping out into the world.

Or perhaps I’m in a season of uncertainty. Of questioning. Of letting go of something that once defined me.

Maybe I’m resting.

Maybe I’m grieving.

Maybe I’m beginning again.

A woman does not simply move from youth to menopause to old age. We move through countless seasons!

There is the young woman stepping into adulthood and trying to work out who she is. The woman building a career, a family, a relationship, a creative life, or none of those things. The woman moving through heartbreak, reinvention, motherhood, childlessness, ambition, grief, freedom, caregiving, spiritual awakening, uncertainty, confidence, loss and new beginnings.

Some seasons are expansive and outward. Some are quiet and inward. Some are full of beginnings, while others ask us to let go. And often, several seasons are unfolding within us at once.

And importantly, these seasons are not necessarily determined by age.

A woman of 25 may find herself in a winter; retreating, healing or questioning everything she thought her life would be.

A woman of 60 may suddenly find herself in spring; travelling, studying, falling in love, starting a business or discovering a completely new part of herself.

Spring can arrive many times in a woman’s life!

Ayurveda has always understood that life moves in cycles.

It does not see us as static beings who should eat, move, work, sleep and live in exactly the same way throughout our lives. Ayurveda sees us as part of nature and nature is always changing.

There are times for growth. Times for activity. Times for nourishment. Times for retreat. Times for letting go. And times for beginning again.

Ayurveda asks us to respond to the season we are in

This, to me, is one of the loveliest things about Ayurveda.

It does not ask us to follow the same routine forever. It asks us to notice.

What is happening in my body?
What is happening in my mind?
What is life asking of me at the moment?

And then we respond accordingly.

There are seasons when we need more warmth, stability and grounding. Seasons when we need cooling and softness. Seasons when our energy feels abundant and we want to create and move forward. And seasons when the most intelligent thing we can do is nourish ourselves and restore.

Ayurveda gives us simple rituals and herbs that can accompany us through these changing landscapes.

A season of new motherhood

Few transitions ask more of a woman than the period after giving birth. Traditionally, Ayurveda places enormous emphasis on warmth, rest, nourishment and oiling during the postnatal period.

Dhanvantri Oil is one of the beautiful traditional oils associated with this time. Used for gentle Abhyanga, it is a way of bringing warmth, touch and care back to a body that has given so much.

There is something I love about this philosophy.

The focus is not immediately on “bouncing back.”

It is on nourishing the woman who has just brought a new life into the world.

A season of change and uncertainty

Then there are those periods when everything seems to be moving at once.

A house move. A new job. Travel. Relationship changes. Studying. Caring for family. Starting something new. Ending something old.

Ayurvedically, these qualities of movement, change and irregularity have much in common with Vata.

This is where a simple ritual such as warm Vata Oil Abhyanga can feel wonderfully grounding — not because we need to eliminate change, but because we can create steadiness within it.

Sometimes the season cannot be made calmer.

But perhaps we can become a little more anchored while moving through it.

A season of intensity

Other seasons feel fiery.

We are driven. Busy. Focused. Ambitious. Creative. Perhaps carrying a lot of responsibility.

There can be tremendous beauty in that kind of energy. But fire needs balance too.

Cooling oils such as Chandanadi Oil, traditionally made with sandalwood and other cooling botanicals, remind us that not every form of self-care needs to push us forward.

Sometimes we need to soften the heat.

To slow the pace.

To leave a little room between one thing and the next.

A season for clarity

I also think some seasons call for fewer answers and more clarity.

Tulsi has always fascinated me for this reason. In India it is much more than simply another herb. It has a long cultural and spiritual history and is traditionally associated with clarity, purification and devotion.

A cup of Tulsi tea can become a very simple daily ritual.

Not necessarily because we need to “fix” anything.

But because sitting with a warm cup of tea for ten quiet minutes can itself become a way of asking:

What matters to me at the moment?

What am I giving my energy to?

Does it still belong in this season of my life?

A season that asks us to rebuild

Then there are the times after illness, exhaustion, grief, overwork or simply a particularly demanding chapter of life, when we feel as though our reserves are low.

Ayurveda has an entire tradition of rasayana— nourishment, rejuvenation and rebuilding.

Herbs such as Mucuna have traditionally been valued as rejuvenating herbs, while Dashamoola, the classical combination of ten roots, has a long history of use in Ayurveda, particularly in Vata-oriented formulations.

I like the philosophy behind these herbs almost as much as the herbs themselves.

There are moments in life when the answer is not to squeeze more productivity from ourselves.

It is to rebuild.

To nourish.

To restore enough vitality that our next season can emerge naturally.

Perhaps the real wisdom is learning to recognise the season

 

There may be seasons when our life appears to be blooming spectacularly from the outside.

And there may be seasons when very little appears to be happening at all.

Both may be important.

So perhaps Jody’s question is one worth returning to again and again:

What season of life am I in?

And then perhaps a second question:

What would it look like to honour it, rather than fight it?

Because spring will come again.

And when it does, we may discover that we are not returning to the woman we once were.

We are meeting the woman we have become.

With warmth, Carly